


The Family Circus

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Family, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-08
Updated: 2015-12-08
Packaged: 2018-05-05 13:51:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5377589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Oligarchy is a society ruled by the few.  The few would be us…the parents.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Family Circus

“Hello.”

Olivia walked into her kitchen on a drizzly evening. It was so damn good to be home. The truth was she could've stayed at the precinct another hour or two but there was no point in being the boss of the place if you never left. Dodds would do just fine by himself…she had trained him well.

“Mi amor.” Rafael walked around the counter and opened his arms. His wife walked right into them, giving him his first kiss since this morning. He liked it so much that he wanted another and another after that. There was nothing better than holding her after a long day apart.

“Something smells delicious.” She murmured against his lips.

“I'm making garlic butter chicken in angel hair pasta with broccoli.”

“Seriously?” Liv looked at him.

Both of them had become better cooks over the years. It was impossible to live on takeout with three kids. They had at least four cook books and loved to make everything from Cuban to soul food to Asian fusion. Some meals didn’t turn out as well as others but luckily the Barba kids had quite an adventurous streak when it came to eating.

“It was in the Meals in 30 Minutes or Less cookbook my sister got me last Christmas.” He kissed her again, reluctant to move out of her arms but didn’t want his chicken to burn. “How was work?”

“Let's file it under things I don’t want to talk about tonight.” Liv sat down at the counter. “Why is the house so quiet? Have you sold the children?”

“Noah is working on his science fair journal and the girls are writing papers on animals. I've been informed that they want a dog.”

“Of course they do. Did you say no?”

“I didn’t say anything. I listened and said mom and I would talk about it. Everyone had to pick an animal in class to write a one page paper on and Lucia picked dogs. She decided through researching that she must have one.”

“Did she happen to mention which breed of dog she wanted?” Liv asked. She reached for a piece of chicken sitting in a bowl. Quicker than her husband, she got to it before he could slap her hand.

“She's fond of German Shepherds.” Rafael replied.

“Never going to happen.” Liv shook her head.

“I figured as much.”

“A German Shepherd weighs more than both of our daughters combined.”

“Probably.” Rafael nodded. He walked over to the sink and drained the pasta. Moving over to the cutting board counter, he started pulling grilled chicken from the bowl and cutting it into smaller pieces. “Could you stir the sauce, love? I don’t want it to burn.”

Olivia went over to the stove and stirred it. She couldn’t wait to eat, it really did smell delicious. Rafael was lucky she was tired, usually something like this would turn her on. She loved when he cooked or did other domestic things. It was something he had to grow into…he made sure to grow out of after his early years. So watching him feed Noah or the twins when they were little or fold all the laundry on Sunday evenings, it made Olivia giddy. Giddy usually turned into hot for him very quickly. Nice to know that after all these years together hot for her husband was still a temperature she wanted to reach and did.

“Papi, I'm starving, is dinner ready yet?” Noah came down the back stairs and into the kitchen. “Hey mom!”

“Hi honey.” Liv leaned and gave Noah a kiss.

“Dinner will be ready in about 10 minutes.” Rafael said. “You can set the table.”

The eleven year old groaned but went about his task. He wanted to know if they were using paper products or the good stuff.

“It’s a random Tuesday,” Rafael said. “I think that calls for the good stuff.”

“Did dad tell you that we might get a dog?” Noah asked his mother.

“It was mentioned as a topic that came up today.” Liv turned the fire down on the sauce. It just needed to stay hot. “What do you think about it?”

“I want a Rottweiler.” Noah replied.

“What is with kids and dogs big enough to eat them?” his mother asked.

“Rottweilers are super, duper smart and really cool, Mom. They started breeding them in Germany like forever ago to deliver medicine over long distances and transport messages and stuff during the war. Best dogs ever!”

“What do you think of Chihuahuas?” Rafael asked as he emptied the bowl of cut up chicken into the sauce on the stove.

“I don’t really.” Noah said. “We can't get a Chihuahua…they bark too much. And they're not fun dogs; you can't play catch with them and stuff. We could get two dogs though.”

“We’re not getting two dogs.” Liv shook her head. “I don’t even know if we’re getting one dog but I know we’re not getting two.”

“Mom, we live in a democracy.” Noah said. “Three overrules two.”

“I appreciate you paying attention in social studies class, sweetie, but you're wrong. America is a democracy that much is true. Home is more of a meritocracy.”

“I like to think of it as an oligarchy.” Rafael said.

“What are those?” Noah asked.

“Well meritocracy is based on merit.” Rafael replied. “Some can say America is a meritocracy as well since if you work hard the theory is that you can achieve anything through that work. Oligarchy is a society ruled by the few. The few would be us…the parents.”

“Yeah, not liking the oligarchy.” Noah rolled his eyes.

“I'm going to wash up and get the girls.” Liv said. “Noah, don’t forget to wash your hands.”

“Probably should've before I set the table. At least I wasn’t upstairs playing in the dark. Mom, check out how my plants are growing…it’s pretty neat.”

“I will do that.”

“Come taste this chicken, Bud.” Rafael said. “I want you to tell me if it’s any good.”

Noah had been the royal food taster for the household since he was the only kid in it. He could quickly give his father thumbs up or down on a meal and was usually correct. Rafael trusted his judgment. Noah may not have been his son by blood but he was in full possession of the Barba foodie gene.

“Oh wow, that’s really good.” Noah smiled.

“Yeah?”

“Oh yeah. I think I want to take some for lunch tomorrow if there’s any left.”

“Another successful Barba meal.” Rafael held up his palm and Noah high fived him. “Who's the world’s best dad?”

“Probably Prince William but I'm going to say you, Papi.”

“Wow,” Rafael laughed and rustled Noah’s hair. “Thanks.”

***

“I don’t like the cha-hoo-hoos Daddy, they're always growling in the pictures.” Lucia said as she deftly moved through pages on her tablet.

“It’s called a Chihuahua, sweetie.”

“OK, I don’t like them.”

“Well what other dogs did you look up for your paper?” Rafael asked.

Dinner and homework check went very well. The girls would be in bed in about 40 minutes and Noah had recently negotiated a new nine o’clock bedtime. From 8 to 9:30 Rafael would be in his study grading papers and going over schedules for the rest of the week. He would have about 90 minutes to devote to Olivia after that. When they both got home on time it was always a good family and couples night. It wasn’t easy but at least two days a week they managed to make it work for them.

“Um, I liked the golden receivers.” Lucia replied.

“Retrievers, sweetie.” He kissed her temple.

“Right, retrievers; I liked them. Then there are pitbulls, bulldogs, beagles, and terrors.”

“I think you might mean terriers.”

“Probably.” Lucia said. “Who was Jack Russell, Daddy and how did he get a dog named after him?”

“Um he was a vicar I think, who lived in the 19th century. He hunted foxes so he helped breed a dog that would be a good companion for him in the woods. The dog was named after him.”

“What's a vicar?”

“It’s another word for preacher. He was a preacher in the Anglican church.”

“That’s a lot of information.” Lucia said.

“Yes, it is.”

“Anyway, I like the Jack Russell terrors. I like Huskies and Rottweilers too. They have butt tails.” She giggled.

“Rottweilers do have stubby tails.” Rafael smiled.

“Do you know why, Daddy?”

“I thought you were the one doing all the doggie research…you tell me.”

“I don't know.” Lucia giggled again. “But they can grow to be 100 pounds. That’s pretty big.”

“It is sweetie.”

“But we wouldn’t have to be scared cuz she'd be our dog. She would only eat the faces of the bad guys.”

“We’re not teaching the dog to eat anyone’s face.” Rafael said.

“Not even the bad guys?” Lucia looked at him. She had the same ‘are you shitting me’ face as her mother.

“Mommy takes care of the bad guys, sweetie.”

“Hey, maybe if they got more dogs on the police force then they wouldn’t have to use guns. Guns are bad but dogs are really good.”

“That’s a really smart idea, Miss Lucia.” Olivia walked back into the bedroom from the master bathroom. She was wearing her terry cloth robe. She looked at her husband, saw he was trying not to smile as she was likely wearing nothing underneath.

“If I ever become the queen of America mommy, I'm gonna make it the law. One dog for every police car.”

“America has Presidents, not queens.” Rafael said.

“Well I wanna be queen so when I get elected I’ll change it to queen. Since I'm gonna be in charge I can do what I want.”

“That’s your daughter.” Olivia laughed and pointed at Rafael.

“Alright, cariño, it’s time to put on your pajamas and brush your teeth. Tuck in time in 20 minutes.”

“Are you gonna tuck us in Daddy?” Lucia asked.

“I most certainly am. Give mom a big kiss.”

Lucia smiled at her mother before launching herself into Olivia’s arms. As she held her daughter, just six years old, it was hard to believe that she was hers. She didn’t carry the twins in her stomach for nine months, or give birth to them, but her eggs and Rafael’s sperm made these amazing little girls. It was the one thing Liv had given up on, even though she tried not to. She had Noah and she was a very content mommy. With all three of her kids the happiness nearly overwhelmed her.

“No goofing around.” Liv gave her one more kiss. “You need to get ready for bed.”

“I hear ya, Mommy. Brush my teeth and put on my pajamas. Got it.” Lucia saluted.

She climbed off the bed and ran out of the room. Rafael looked at Liv and she looked at him. They both knew what that look meant but they were parents with three children awake so it was only a matter of time before…

“I want my kisses too, Mommy.” Hope rushed into the master bedroom. She was already wearing her pajamas and was carrying a book as she climbed onto the bed. “This is the book we wanna read tonight, Daddy. It’s the Sisters Grimm.”

“I don't know, this might be a little too mature for you guys.”

“It’s a kid’s book.” She looked at him with that face. Rafael was going to be seeing that face for the rest of his life. “They're twins just like us. We wanna read it Daddy.”

“OK.” He relented. “But I'm skipping over any scary or bad stuff…tell your sister.”

“C'mere, Hopie.” Olivia opened her arms for her daughter and they shared a big hug. Hope even cuddled up on her lap for a few moments like she did when she was really young. Liv covered her face in kisses. “You never told me what animal you chose for your paper.”

“Lucia talks too much, I never get a chance to.”

“Just say excuse me and then you can speak. We talked about that, remember? And if you don’t feel comfortable, you can always come to Daddy or me later and say what you want to say. We love listening to you talk.”

“Well I'm gonna do falcons cuz they’re cool. They can swoop down and pick up animals and then eat them. They’ve got super claws called talons. I read that on my tablet.”

“That sounds great. Falcons are really awesome birds. I'm going to want to read all about them.”

“OK Mommy.” Hope kissed her mother’s lips. “Goodnight, I love you.”

“I love you too baby.”

“I’ll kiss you later Daddy.”

She jumped off the bed and was gone in a flash. There were days when Rafael was so exhausted he had no idea how kids moved that fast. He was sure he didn’t when he was a child. Was it something in the water or milk products they drank? Did Capri Sun turn normal children into speed demons?

“The Sisters Grimm should be fun tonight.” Liv said. She was resting against the pillows buffing her nails. Her work didn’t always make keeping something as simple as a French manicure nice. “I know some of the later books have some scarier elements but the first one is fine. The girls mentioned something about wanting to dress up like them for Halloween.”

“Halloween is five months away.” Rafael said. He was thumbing through the book.

“When you're planning super elaborate costumes five months may as well be five minutes.”

“Are you telling me this because we’re doing the family costume thing again this year?”

He didn’t want to groan thinking about dressing up as The Incredibles, the Addams Family, or the Justice League. Sometimes those things could be fun. Halloween had always been a holiday Rafael skipped over after the allure of getting a shit ton of candy wore off. He knew how much it meant to his children and he would help them celebrate. That didn’t mean he wanted to dress up while doing so.

“Actually, we’re going to a party with grownups. Trevor is throwing a Studio 54 bash. I've got a vintage Halston that has been waiting for this occasion to shine.”

“ _My_ Trevor?” Rafael put his hand on his chest.

“That’s one way to look at him.” Liv said with a smirk.

“I just meant…uh uh, you're playing with me right now.” He stood up from the bed. “I have to read the girls their story and then get to those essays downstairs. We can pick this back up at 9:30.”

“One the dot, Professor Barba. I want every second of my 90 minutes tonight.”

“Yes ma'am.” He leaned to kiss her. “I’ll see you in a little while.”

“OK.” Liv smiled and caressed his face. “I love you.”

“Love you more.” Rafael kissed her nose. “For always, always, always, and a decade after that.”

“Go now before I don’t let you leave.”

He smiled, grabbing the book and leaving the room. Liv sighed as she relaxed on the bed. These days she barely knew what to do with 90 minutes to herself. The thought of sleeping was one she had to push to the side…one didn’t take naps at this hour. She wasn’t in the mood for TV because the quiet was nice. There were at least three books she started and hadn’t have a chance to finish. The constant buzz in her brain might not make that possible tonight either.

“Hey mom,” Noah knocked on the half-open door and then walked into the room. “I just found the funniest cat video ever. Wanna watch it with me?”

“You know I do.” Liv patted the bed as her son came in and sat down. This would kill 20 minutes or so and she couldn’t think of anyone better to spend the time with.

***


End file.
